Hi, this is John Bradford, pet lover and founder of PetScreening.com. PetScreening.com operates in all 50 states here in the United States as well as in Canada. Our corporate office is located in the Queen City — Charlotte, North Carolina.

In our blog spot post, Retrieving FIDO Scores for Household Pets, PetScreening Founder, John Bradford, talks about his personal experience with screening his dog, Maggie*, and her PetScreening FIDO Score™.

Our patent pending and proprietaryFIDO Score™ ranges between 5-paw down to 0-paw and is included with each Pet Profile we screen at PetScreening. (Note: Assistance animals do not receive a FIDO Score™.)

When it comes to pet policies, most property managers and housing providers strictly focus on the residents and applicants that willfully admit they own a pet or animal. Obviously, the goal is to make sure these residents and applicants are aware of management’s pet and animal policies. These policies are often addressed in the lease or an additional lease addendum and focus on things such as leashing rules, dog waste pick up, weight restrictions, age issues, breed exclusions, and more. This is a great first step but it leaves some questions unanswered.

Surprise! One (or more) of your residents got a new pet over the holidays. While the image of new puppies and kittens popping out of gift boxes is undeniably adorable, new pets mean added liability for you as the housing provider and more responsibility for your residents to care for your rental property.

PetScreening helps pet-friendly housing providers mitigate the risk that comes with housing pets and pet owners. Let's take a look at a few ways PetScreening can help hold your residents more accountable in your rental properties now and well into the New Year.

Many landlords and property managers have implemented pet breed restrictions. At first pass, this seems logical because some breeds have a higher risk of a pet bite. What about higher-risk pet breeds that have very responsible and loving pet owners? Does the general risk profile change because these higher-risk pet breeds were raised to be well acclimated to their surroundings like being around other people and pets? Additionally, many landlords and property managers simply assume their general liability insurance has specific breed exclusions. This might sometimes be the case, but in many instances, it can be a false premise or a result of not shopping insurance options.

In the household pet screening process at PetScreening.com, we look at data points that focus on the "ABCs" (Affirmations, Behavioral, and Compatibility) of each pet and pet owner. The pet owner submits a pet application along with a final legal attestation to confirm validity. A Pet Profile is instantaneously generated and includes name, breed, weight, sex, age, pictures, vaccination information, micro-chip data, and behavioral information.